Tumultuous Proceedings
by rainbowcapillaries
Summary: A tumultuous event or period of time involves many exciting and confusing events or feelings, and thus this story is exactly what it says on the tin.
1. Beginnings

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the work of Joanne Kathleen Rowling, or that of Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift or Westlife. **

Rose Weasley wasn't the type to pay much attention to boys. She loved the guys in her family, and had friendly conversations with the boys she encountered in classes and such, but she was not the type to fantasise endlessly about hot guys in her school. Not that she wasn't capable of it, but rather, she saw other things in her life as more important. Rose Weasley wasn't uptight or snobby though. If anything, she was a pleasant person, sometimes a little crazy when she was with friends, but a model student with perfect grades otherwise. She could get into trouble for talking too much, but everyone knew her as a chatty person anyway. She was the type of person to randomly start singing (and rather well, at that) in the middle of the hallways just to please her friends, regardless of how many times Filch would scream at her to shut up. Or she would befriend each new generation of house elves and become such firm friends that she would bake cookies at 2am with them, and then sneak extra cookies to her housemates. Rose Weasley was not especially pretty or 'hot', but she was cute and small-something people regarded quite weird as her mother Hermione was of a decent height, and her father Ron was always known for being 'gangly'. Rose Weasley was the person who everyone knew and loved, not because of her parents or lineage, but because of whom she was and how she treated people.

Scorpius Malfoy was surprisingly similar to Rose Weasley. Granted, he wouldn't bake cookies at 2am or burst out singing randomly, but like Rose, he was a model student and got perfect grades. He was liked by most Gryffindors, as he was the one to break Malfoy tradition; he was liked by Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and even some Slytherins, even though at first he had been regarded as a traitor. Scorpius Malfoy even liked muggle music, just as Rose Weasley did, although that of course was courtesy of their Muggle born mothers. He was a fan of Westlife, (he loved the sound of 90's pop), rock music, and even Taylor Swift (although arguably he liked her looks more than her sound). Rose Weasley liked the same, and most notably, Ed Sheeran, who her mother thought resembled her father Ron a lot. Even the muggles would mistake her father as Ed Sheeran, although that was the result of a video of Ron miming the words to 'Lego House' somehow being released onto the internet. Scorpius Malfoy took after his father in looks but had the misfortune of being blessed with violent freckles from his mother, which made him look less handsome than he actually was. Nonetheless, Scorpius Malfoy was a decent person too.

The two did not know each other that well. Both had disregarded their parents' statements of beating the other and instead focused on their own lives- they saw no need to fight. They both knew Albus, of course, and sometimes had conversations while Albus was being an idiot and wasn't paying attention to them, but they were in no way best friends, or even close to that. They simply had a conversation every now and then, like someone does when their best friend isn't around and they have to talk to another person whom they don't know very well.

But then a seemingly unimportant incident at the end of 5th year drew their lives together and over the next few years, the two found themselves in the midst of a whirlwind of events.


	2. Decisions

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, apart from Rose's friend May.**

It was time to pick the subjects they wanted to do for sixth and seventh year; and Rose Weasley was not taking her decision lightly, like some people. She looked over at Al, who had made a list of his subjects.  
>"Al, Care of Magical Creatures? You hate magical creatures."<p>

"Yeah, I know, but Hagrid's great, all I have to do is eat a few of those nasty rock cakes and he'll give me an O. Dad said their exam was to feed a flobberworm, and that's not exactly hard."

"This, coming from the guy who had a flobberworm shoved up his nose by James when he was 7?"

"Hey!" Al protested, "James didn't shove it up my nose, _I_ shoved it up mys-" he trailed off, realising what he had just said. Rose shook her head, laughing, and took another look at her long list of options.

"You alright there, Rosie? You look a little…stuck." said James, who had tuned into the conversation.

"Constipated?" asked Fred. "You look like someone who's just woken up after taking laxatives and sleeping pills simultaneously." he grinned.

Rose rolled her eyes. She was used to the usual stupid remarks from Fred and James. Instead, she turned around and started talking to her friend, May, about her choices, while Al chatted to Scorpius who had just walked in.

"Rose? You've picked Transfiguration and Potions, right? And Charms and Defence?" asked Al.

Rose nodded. "Why?"

"Oh, it's just that Scorpius has picked almost the same. Only he's gone for Herbology instead of Defence." replied Albus.

"Ooh, can ickle Malfoy take care of himself?" asked James, butting into the conversation again.

"Yep, unlike Mr James Potter over here, who's scared of his mother's Bat Bogey Hex."

"Hey, don't underestimate the power of that thing. It's deadly!"

"Yep, I agree there." said Rose simply. "Don't mess with Aunt Ginny."

"But hey, you guys are taking practically the same lessons." said Al again.

"Yes, Al. You said that already. What of it?"

"Nothing, just that you and Rose might talk more now."

"I wasn't under the impression you wanted Rose and I to become bosom friends."

"Me neither." said Rose.

"Oh, I don't. But, well, it'd be nice for you two to talk more, considering you hang around with me the most. But you don't have to be _best_ friends. I mean- well- she- you-" stammered Al.

'Chill, Al. I was joking."

"Yeah Bus, take a chill pill. Rosie Dosie isn't going to be best friends with Scorpio over there anytime soon. Remember what Granddad Weasley said-" said James.

"I'll never forgive you if you marry a pureblood!" chorused Fred and James together.

"He's not even a pureblood you daft idiots." scoffed Albus.

"Really?" asked Rose, curious.

"Yep. I'm a half blood 'cause mum's a muggleborn." shrugged Scorpius.

"Oh."

"Scorpy Worpy's a halfie!" said James excitedly. "Welcome to the family, son. We'll go alert the others."

"Others?' asked Scorpius, worriedly.

"Lily, Huge-o, Roxie, Molls, Luce, Louis." said Fred.

"Hey, don't call Hugo that! You're fatter than he is." Rose interrupted.

"Whatever, Dosie. That allright with you, Scorpo?"

"Erm, the _whole_ Weasley-Potter clan?"

"Not all of them. If we did that, we'd have to go tell Teddy and Vic and Dom too. But nope, we'll just tell the ones a Hogwarts. That allright?"

"Er…"

"Well, even if you don't like it, tough. Bye, Halfie!"  
>And with that Fred and James walked off.<p>

"Well, its time to go pick our subjects. Let's go. Come on, Scorp." said Albus a few minutes later.

"Oh damn. Okay. Let's go, May." muttered Rose reluctantly.

The four of them made their way over to the second floor, where they had to choose their subjects. Albus found himself sharing quite a few classes with May, as did Scorpius with Rose. Little did they know that this was the start of their whirlwind.


	3. Taster Day

**A/N: Apologies- this chapter's a little boring; I just wanted to introduce some other characters and give some background information, and to set the scene for the more exciting events coming up.**

Thursday afternoon was not something she'd been looking forward to. Rose groaned at the thought of Potions. Before, she had had Al and May to keep her company, but today was the day that the soon-to-be-sixth-year students were sampling their new classes. It had been fine so far. May had kept her company in her classes, and her friends from her dormitory were there too. But now both May and Albus were making their way to Care of Magical Creatures, which meant that Rose was- quite simply- on her own. She sighed and trudged down the stairs to the dungeons, glaring at the walls. The walls sneered back at her, as if to mock the fact that she was walking all alone to class. She walked through the door; looking around, she found an empty seat near the back of the class. She spotted some of the girls from her dormitory, and she ran over to them eagerly.

"Thank God you guys are here! I thought I was going to be alone. Weren't you guys going to do Divination?" she asked.

"Yeah, we were, but we decided against it. Firenze isn't teaching sixth year and we don't wanna be stuck with the bug eyed bat, Trelawney." said Anna.

"Plus, we don't mind Potions. Might as well brew up a little Amortentia!" giggled Anita.

Mary rolled her eyes. "Just ignore them Rose, them two have got a bad case of boys on the brain."

Rose grinned and sat down next to Mary. She was glad that these guys were here- she knew them well, having shared a dormitory with them for the past five years. They were bright, and quite funny, and definitely caring and sweet. Rose did prefer to keep her distance from them a little though- they were sometimes inclined to spread gossip and backbite about others. Mary seemed a little less close with the other two now, though. Rose wondered why, and then laid it to rest. She didn't need to worry about other people's troubles. 

Glancing around the class, she noticed a few other Gryffindors- among them was Scorpius Malfoy. Al was right. She did have a few classes with him; they'd already been in the same classes the whole of the morning.

Professor Ankra walked through the doors and the class fell silent, eagerly listening. She was one of the nicer teachers in the school, and classes usually granted her their attention because of her excellent teaching. Rose and Scorpius were both very fond of her, having had Potions with her for quite a few years.

"Allright class, its Taster Day. From now on, you'll be having lessons twice a week just to build up general knowledge of the Potions NEWT. I'm gonna introduce you to Potions today and put you all in a seating plan-" she was cut off by a loud groaning from most members of the class.

"Oh, don't be like that, it's gonna be fun! You get to meet new people and make new friends!" Professor Ankra said eagerly.

"Oh yes, because Gryffindors are such fun to be with!" sneered a bulky looking Slytherin.

"Shut it, Goyle. Get with the times. No-one cares about house rivalry anymore." Professor Ankra said swiftly, silencing him. The class laughed and Goyle scowled.

"So, I'm going to pair you guys up for your seating plan. Don't worry, girls, the boys' wont bite. Well, most of them."

She looked knowingly towards Will Blanket, who was known in first year for biting the edges of furniture whilst sleepwalking. He had single handedly reduced one corner of the Gryffindor table to splinters one night.

"Hey, why's everyone looking at me? I don't sleepwalk anymore!"

"It's not the sleepwalking that was the problem, Megabite!" grinned Scorpius, causing the class to erupt in laughter at the mention of Will's old nickname. Will couldn't help but laugh along- he didn't mind being made fun of. Most of the time he managed to mock other people too, so it was all in good fun.

"Allright, settle down, class. Now, where was I? Oh, yes, seating plan. Anna, you're with John. Anita, you're with Michael. Mary, you're with Dave. Goyle, with Nott." She continued down the list until only Rose, Scorpius, Will and a Ravenclaw, Holly was left. Rose hoped she was with Scorpius. She didn't know Will at all and there was no way she could be with Holly. Professor Ankra made it clear that it was a boy-girl seating plan. Rose felt her stomach squeezing in anticipation. Granted, Scorpius wasn't her first choice but he was better than Will. She looked at him worriedly and he smiled back comfortingly. Hmm. She quite liked the idea of getting to know him. If he was friends with Al, he can't have been that bad a person. She crossed her fingers.

Professor Ankra, after what seemed like ages, finally spoke.

"Rose…you're with Will. Scorpius, with Holly."

Damn.


	4. Getting Somewhere

Rose found, to her surprise, that Potions wasn't all that unbearable; the work was challenging but fun, her classmates were people who were easy to get on with, and perhaps best of all, she managed to work with Scorpius quite a bit. By the end of year, she and Scorpius had become friends, on account of the fact that Will and Holly had struck up an instant friendship and decided to work together as partners. This suited Rose and Scorpius fine- over the last few weeks of term, they got to know each other fairly well, and even Albus commented on how much more friendly they were towards each other.

It was on the last Potions lesson of the year that Rose noticed a change in Scorpius. He was much more social with others, more than he was usually, and although it was pleasant, Rose found it a little disconcerting.

"Allright there, Rose?"

"Yep, fine thanks, how are you, Scorp?"

"Oh, I'm all good. Absolutely marvellous!"

"Someone's a little high today." Rose observed.

"Well, Rosie Dosie that is because it's gonna be the holidays!" said Scorpius, grinning widely.

"And the holidays are great because?"

"I'm off on holiday! South of France, two weeks."

So that was the reason for Scorpius' unusually good mood. Rose sighed in relief, ruffling her fringe upwards. She had gotten worried over nothing.

"Oh, that's lovely." she smiled.

"Yep, I can't wait. Plus, Damien's coming over to stay when we get back."

"Damien?"

"Oh, he's my older cousin- my mum's nephew. Great guy. Doesn't really like being in his own home, though. They all look down on him, though they'd never admit it. He's the only one without any magic. And that's bad 'cause his little sister's a witch, but he's not a wizard. Mum's side are meant to be the nicer ones considering half of them are Muggles, but my uncle's a little stuck up. Lingering pureblood mentality and all that."

"Oh, I see." said Rose, nodding in understanding.

"Uncle Harry's mum and her sister were a little like that. His mum was the clever one cause she was a witch and his Aunt Petunia felt left out. She wasn't really, but I guess it hurts having your parents fawning over your little sister all the time." she continued.

'Yeah that's how Damien feels. His little sister's a brat though, so I don't blame him. Not saying that Harry's mum was a brat, but- well- you know what I'm saying."

Rose giggled. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Still, I guess you'll be glad to have some company."

"Yeah, I can't wait. Apart from my mum, he's the one who educates me on all things muggle so that I have something to do while it's the holidays and I'm not in this place. He's getting me a Blackberry when he comes to visit, to replace the phone I've got now. I get a bit fed up owling people all the time, you see. Hey, you have a phone right?"

"Erm, yup. How do you know?"  
>"How do I know what a phone is?"<p>

"No, I mean how do you know I have a phone?"

"Oh, I thought you meant- oh, well, I heard you and Al discussing it at lunch a few weeks ago."

"Oh, I see. You thought I thought you wouldn't know what a phone is?" she asked teasingly.

"No, it's not that, it's just that, you know, not many people here are familiar with muggle items." Scorpius replied.

"Oh, that's true. My dad had trouble even pronouncing muggle words; he said 'fellytone' for the first three years of his teenage life. And when it came to mobiles he was _really_ confused. Not to mention the time when Hugo and I wanted a latpop and comtuper." laughed Rose.

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. 'Comtuper?'

"Computer. We all knew what he meant so it was allright." Rose explained.

"That's cool. So, you've definitely got a phone then?"

"Yep, I've got a phone."

"Well… if you don't mind, then Rose, can I ask you a question?"

He sounded quite serious.

"Sure, go ahead." she said, bewildered at what he might want to ask her.

"Wandropmeyuhdigits?" he asked hurriedly. He regained his composure, and then smiled at her with the bad boy grin he sometimes adopted when he was trying to flirt.

"Pardon?" she asked confusedly.

"You. Me. Text. Call."

"Text. Call. Me. You." She repeated slowly. "OH! You want my number." said Rose, comprehension dawning on her face.

"Yes. We could maybe text sometime in the holidays?"

"Oh. Erm…"

"I understand if you don't want to. I just thought, you know, we're friends. Friends text…"

"Oh, no, I know we're friends. It's just-my dad-"

"Oh, right. Forgot about that."

They stood, staring at each other a little awkwardly.

"You know what? Screw them. We're friends, it's not like we're dating or anything!" Scorpius piped up after a few minutes.

"Oh, trust me, nothing like that would ever happen!" she said incredulously.

"Exactly!" agreed Scorpius fervently.

"And you know what, you're right! They need to get over this rivalry anyway." agreed Rose.

"Great. Here's my number."

He wrote it down on a piece of parchment, and Rose did the same. They swapped pieces of paper and then grinned, somewhat awkwardly, at each other. The end of lesson bell rang, and the two said their goodbyes. They'd say goodbye on the platform once they got off the train, of course, but they wouldn't be able to say much considering their parents would be there.

"Erm, bye then. Hope you have a nice holiday." said Rose, smiling nervously.

"Oh, thanks. You too." said Scorpius, smiling warmly at her.

He walked off and Rose smiled to herself. This was the first time a guy outside of her family had asked for her number. She grinned at his retreating figure and then at the piece of parchment in her hands. These holidays were going to be _quite_ interesting.

**A/N: I thought I'd throw in a little irony there with the fact that both of them consider a relationship completely ridiculous and are in no way willing to even think about seeing each other that way. You might be thinking a relationship is inevitable…_or is it?_ Hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do review!**


	5. Contact

It was the middle of the summer holidays and things were going great for Rose. Her holidays were going excellently. She had met up with her friends, had an outrageous sleepover with her cousins (in which they _somehow_ managed to end up in a forest at three am) and on top of that, the weather was perfect, which meant that she could get out and about doing the things she loved.

One night, however, as she lay in her bed, she found herself experiencing a peculiar feeling. She furrowed her eyebrows and thought about what it was that was worrying her. It wasn't family. Not her cousins. Not her friends, although admittedly she was missing them. But it wasn't really her usual friends who she was missing. She sat up and absent-mindedly picked up her mobile and started playing around with it. It wasn't until she looked at her messages for a full five minutes that she realised. There were all sorts of familiar names as she scrolled through her inbox, but one name was missing. And then it hit her.

Scorpius.

It was the middle of August and he hadn't even called her. Not even one text. Had he forgotten about her? She shook her head. Why was this even worrying her? It was only Scorpius, for goodness' sake! It didn't matter to her whether he called or texted or not! She shook her head again. 'You're worrying about nothing, Rose.' she muttered to herself. She lay down in her bed and tried to get to sleep.

She had been asleep for about an hour when a sudden flash of light awoke her. She looked around for the source, but nothing but darkness met her eyes. She heaved a sigh. It was times like this she hated being such a light sleeper. She picked up her phone, wondering what time it was. 1.41. Way past midnight. She glanced blearily at her phone again and saw that she had a message. She rolled her eyes. It was probably Lily. That girl was nocturnal. She hardly ever slept in the night. She was probably texting to ask whether Rose was free on the weekend. She'd been pestering her to go to some summer sales for ages now.

Rose opened the message, the bright light momentarily blinding her, and looked at it groggily. 'Hey there Rosie, you still awake? Sorry to text so late, was just wondering how you were.' she muttered to herself. She blinked. Well that wasn't Lily. She would never text using full English- she barely _spoke _in full English. She looked again at the message again, her eyes adjusting to the light, and saw the name 'Scorp'.

Scorp? Scorpius! She found herself grinning in delight, a broad smile etched on her face. So he _was _thinking of her! She replied back quickly, hurriedly writing that it was fine and she was glad to hear from him. She read back over what she had written and froze. Did that sound too clingy? _Should_ she have said that she was glad to hear from him?

'Rose, get a grip! It's only Scorpius, why are you obsessing over what he's going to say?' she chastised herself. Her phone lit up again and she eagerly opened the message. 'Glad you're awake, can I phone you? Miss your annoying voice!' she read aloud. She laughed. Typical Scorpius. And he had added a smiley face, as if to sop her getting angry. Smiling slightly, she replied, softly repeating herself as she wrote. "You're. The. Annoying. One, Stupid. But. Feel. Free. To Call." She sent it and excitedly sat up, anticipating the call.

She looked at the time again. It was 1.49. Blimey. She wasn't usually up this late, unless she was texting May- their conversations spanned hours. She waited a few minutes, and then checked the time again. 1.55. Hmm. Maybe he was a little held up. A few more minutes ticked by. 2.00. He should have called by now, it had been almost ten minutes. Rose found herself staring exasperatedly at her phone for the next twenty minutes. "Where _is_ he? He hasn't fallen asleep, has he? No, he was the one who texted first. Why start conversations if you _know_ you're tired?" she grumbled to herself. Nevertheless, she sat patiently as the minutes ticked past.

Rose felt her eyes drooping slowly and she widened her eyes, still expectantly checking her phone. It was 2.41. If he hadn't phoned by _now_, he wasn't ever going to phone. She wondered what had happened. 'He's probably fallen asleep.' she told herself.

Disappointment tugged at her. She had really wanted to talk to him. Still, at least he had bothered to make contact. That was worth something. She settled down and snuggled into her duvet. He'd probably get back to her in the morning. And with that thought, she dropped off comfortably to sleep, not knowing that in a matter of minutes, she'd soon be awake again.

**A/N: Please do review, reviews make the world go round! Well, my world anyway :)**


	6. Summer Bliss

A warm ray of sunlight seeped in through the small crack in the curtains, lighting up the room. It tickled the side of Rose's face and she winced slightly at the brightness of the sun. The sun was very high up in the sky. It must have been past midday. Had she slept that late? She shook the confusion out of her mind, and as she looked around her room, she smiled. There was something about the way the sunlight reflected off the walls that made her immensely happy. She got up and opened the curtains; looking up, her brown eyes met the brilliant blue of a cloudless sky, and as her gaze descended upon her garden, she gave a small squeal of delight.

She raced downstairs in her pyjamas and bounded happily into the garden. Her dad and Hugo had parked themselves at the garden table with a plate of biscuits and a chessboard. She helped herself to a few biscuits and then leapt onto her swing, swinging crazily and pushing herself perilously high. The steady creak of the swing only challenged her to leap further, and Rose soon found herself soaring through the air. She smelt the sweet aroma of muffins in the air and slowed down to a halt, before tearing herself away from the wing and bouncing into the kitchen, where she grabbed some muffins and breathed in the warm smell.

"Steady on there, Rosie, that's the fourth muffin you've had in about three minutes!" her mum said.

"Well, how can I resist, Mum? Your cooking's just so good!" exclaimed Rose.

'Well, thank you, dear. Why are you in such a good mood?"

"Oh, no reason." she said dismissively.

"Where are your Dad and Hugo? Call them in."

"They'll be coming soon, Dad's losing. He'll demand a break anytime now."

"Are you allowed to have breaks while playing chess?"

"Don't think so, but you know what Dad's like- he gets angry when he's losing and makes up any excuse to leave the game. Can I have another muffin?"

"Oh, go on then. And yes, I know all too well what your father's like. I'm glad you like the muffins though,_ unlike_ your father who-"

"Unlike her father, what?" asked Ron suspiciously, walking into the kitchen with Hugo.

"Well, your father, Rose, was very unappreciative of my cooking just a few years ago before you were born-" began Hermione.

"I doubt that. Just a few years? More like a good twenty!" Hugo interrupted cheekily.

"Allright, allright, more than a few years, but anyway, your _father, _the ungrateful idiot-"

"I was not ungrateful! I don't _ever _remember being ungrateful!" protested Ron, helping himself to a muffin.

"Yes you were, Ronald._ I _remember the time-" started Hermione.

Ron rolled his eyes and interrupted quickly, although the words came out sounding like gibberish due to the presence of the large muffin he had in his mouth "Oh, herewah' gogain, sames'always. Allt'time!"

Rose laughed and quickly excused herself from the room. Her mother was about to start reminiscing and that usually ended in an argument and lots of making up. Or rather, making out. She heard the clatter of feet up the stairs and knew that Hugo had left the room too. They did not want to see their parents doing _that_ anytime soon.

Rose went up to her room, washed her face and brushed her teeth, and then swept a hairband into her curly locks and pulled on a simple summer dress. She tumbled back into the garden again, barefoot against the freshly mowed grass, and sat on the swing happily, swaying backwards and forwards gently. She stared contently up at the blue sky and felt a wave of total bliss wash over her. It seeped into her veins and tingled through her body. She stared up at the sun, letting its warmth penetrate her. She wondered why she was so happy and then she remembered.

Scorpius had called.

**A/N: Sorry for the late update, I had a bit of writer's block. I promise the next chapter will be up soon!**


	7. She's Just One of Many

**A/N: Haven't done a disclaimer in a while- I do not own any of the wonderful world of Harry Potter. It's all J.K. Rowling's.**

Rose sat in her bedroom a few hours later, thinking back, yet again, on her lovely conversation with Scorpius. It had been short, but sweet. They'd exchanged pleasantries and talked about school. It wasn't really the content of the conversation that had made her so happy, but more the knowledge that he had been thinking of her and wanted to speak to her. It made her feel special. Her phone suddenly bleeped and it was a message from Scorpius, saying that he wanted to call. She grinned. She would get to talk to him again! She just hoped that he wouldn't take as long to call as he did yesterday.

It was on the very edge of being awake and falling asleep that Rose Weasley found herself, moments after she had given up on the thought of Scorpius calling, for the second time in a row. She was on the brink of falling deeply into an undisturbed slumber when suddenly a noise jolted her back to attention. Her phone screen had lit up and was vibrating. She reached for it and peered at the screen. Scorpius. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She had just waited almost an hour for him to call, and _just _when she was about to fall asleep, he decided to call! _Again!_

She sighed and looked at the phone again.

'Should I pick up?' she muttered to herself. 'Yes, because I want to speak to him. But no, cause he's just kept me waiting for a whole bloody hour. He did this the other night too. Then again, that _was _a good conversation. Hmm. Should I? Shouldn't I?' she babbled to herself. 'Get a grip, Rose!' she chastised herself. She was just about to pick up when suddenly her phone stopped ringing. Damn it. She had missed her chance. She put her mobile down and sighed. The phone suddenly rang again and she immediately picked up, her previous argument with herself forgotten.

"Hello?" asked an oh-so-familiar voice. Rose's heart lifted, and she felt her stomach squeeze. Holy crap, what was _happening_ to her? It was only Scorpius! And she had talked to him just yesterday!

"H-hi." She stammered.

"Rose!" he exclaimed. "It's so good to hear your annoying, bossy voice!"

She snorted. "Thanks. Nice to hear your snooty tones too. But we talked just yesterday. Forgotten how I sound already?" she said, taking care not to speak too loudly- it was the middle of the night.

"Nope, my memory is as strong as ever." he replied. "And hey, I'm not snooty!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say." she said dismissively.

"Oh, that's what they all say? And who _are_ all these men you've been talking to in my absence?" he demanded playfully.

"Well… let me think. One, two, three. Oh, there was him as well, that's four. Five, six, was it six? No there was the _other_ one as well, seven, then? Yep, seven." she declared.

"Oh, seven men, eh? And how exactly did you get them to talk to you? You're so annoying, they would've walked off the minute you said hello."

"Thanks, Scorp, you do wonders for my self confidence! But actually, they were very interested in what I had to say, unlike _you._"

"Hey, I'm on the phone to you, aren't I?"

"Yeah. So?'

"Well, its quarter to one in the bleeding morning and I'm talking to you, for the second time in a row, surely that accounts for something?"

"Hmm. Maybe. But considering you phoned an hour late, yet _again, _it cancels your oh-so-good deed out."

"Oh, shit, sorry about that by the way. I got caught up writing letters to my parents. They're still in France. I wanted to come home now so that I could get my school shopping out of the way."

"It takes you an hour to write a letter to your parents?" she asked sceptically.

"Yeah, I have to be careful of what I say. I say something wrong and they'll Portkey me right back to where they are."

"O...kay then."

"But how are you? How're your holidays going?"

"They're all right. I've managed to get _some_ work done. I'm meant to be revising but I've been putting it off in favour of going out with the cousins."

"Ahh, the infamous Weasley-Potter girls."

"Well, Lily's the only Potter girl actually, and she's a lot like Aunt Ginny so we're all Weasley's really."

"Aww, wook at the wittle weasels." mocked Scorpius.

"Shut it, scorpion. Don't make me hex you through the phone." she warned, half serious.

"Jeez! Chill, Scarlet." yelped Scorpius, as though a hex really had hit him.

"My hair's not even red anymore, you daft prat."

"What colour is it then?"

"Auburn." said Rose proudly. Her hair had changed from the fiery Weasley red to a mellower colour, though some strands of flaming red were still noticeable at her roots. She liked it. It was brown enough to be different from the other girls, but it still symbolised that she had the Weasley temper.

"Doesn't auburn just mean reddish brown?"

"Yep. There's more emphasis on the brown now, though."

"Oh. Matches your eyes then."

Rose smiled. He had noticed her eyes. She quickly changed the topic before she could start daydreaming about his eyes.

"So, how are your holidays going?"

"Oh, they've been great. France was great. Saw a lot French girls. They were great." he grinned.

"Hmm, nice. I knew it wasn't just the scenery that attracted you there."

"Hey, I didn't get with any of them though. I have many ladies just waiting for me here at home."

"What ladies? Those poxy Slytherins who stare at you in Potions? Please." Rose scoffed.

'They don't even know him. They just like him for his looks, and half the time they sit and nitpick over his imperfections, like his freckles.' She thought indignantly.

"Oh, I don't care about that horrible lot. Nah, I'm talking about Anita, Anna, Mary. Oh, and Holly. They'd all just fall at my feet." He declared proudly.

"No, they wouldn't. Those are _my_ friends, you daft sod. They don't even know who you are, Scorp." said Rose peevishly.

"Yes, they do. I talk to them all the time. And text them." said Scorpius huffily.

"Well, if you talk to them so much, then you won't mind if I go to sleep then, will you? Considering you have _so_ many other people to talk to who just _fall_ at your feet, you can ring one of them." Her Weasley temper was flared up now. She gave a sigh of contempt and spat "Goodnight.", and ended the call.

She threw her phone onto her bed and sat down, breathing heavily. Her initial burst of anger was now tinged with a hint of regret, and it entwined itself with a degree of disappointment. 'I thought he really wanted to speak to me. And _just_ me.' she whispered to herself. 'He's got a whole load of other girl's numbers as well.' she said sadly.

Rose Weasley lay down on her bed and sighed.

Suddenly, she didn't feel as special anymore.

**A/N: Longest chapter yet, I think! Please do review; it encourages me to keep writing.**


	8. Realisation, Confession, Humilation

A new day dawned, and whilst Scorpius was left to ponder what the hell had happened the night before on his own, Rose was confiding in Dominique, Roxanne, Lily and May, and was mentally kicking herself for what she had done the previous night.

She looked around at everyone gathered in her room. She had decided to definitely tell Lily and May- they were the two she trusted the most. Dom and Roxanne were like her older sisters; she just had to go to them for help. She had briefly considered telling Molly and Lucy, and then decided against it. Victoire, she decided, would be consulted if things got really serious. No one else would hear about this. She took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Okay guys, I'm sort of really confused and really regret something I did last night."

Four pairs of eyes looked back at her, alight with curiosity.

"What did you do?" asked Lily slowly. "You didn't do anything stupid did you?"

"Yes. No. Oh, I don't know." Rose replied in anguish.

"Wait. Is it to do with a guy?" asked Dominique.

"Erm, yes."

"_Which _guy?" asked Roxanne.

"Wait. I think I can answer that. It's him, isn't it?" said May. Rose glanced sideways at her and she had a triumphant grin on her face.

"N-no."

"Don't lie to me, Rose. It _is!_" May insisted.

"It's _not!_"

"Who? Who is it?" asked Dom and Roxy simultaneously.

"That's really weird you know." she frowned.

"What, that we said it together?"

"Yeah."

"It's not weird, it's just coincidence. But if you insist it's weird, just consider us twins."

"But you look nothing alike."

"Shut it, Rosie, stop trying to change the subject." said Roxanne.

"And spill." said Dom.

"I kind of did something I really regret and wish I hadn't done it. And it's probably going to complicate things a lot."

"Wait. You did something stupid. With a guy. It's gonna complicate things. And you regret it?" asked Lily, her forehead creased in confusion. Rose didn't reply, instead choosing to look at the floor. Dom and Roxy's eyes were wide.

"She hasn't…"

"You can't have…"

Rose looked at their expressions. Their eyes had steadily grown larger, and even Lily was looking at her uneasily.

"You haven't done anything really stupid, have you, Rose?" asked Dom.

"I don't know." she whispered, barely audibly.

"Look, someone just ask her and we can all stop worrying." said Lily. "In fact, I'll ask. You guys are meant to be the mature ones. And I'm the bloody youngest!"

Rose looked at Lily, concerned. Questions ran through her mind. What were they going to ask her? Why did they all look so alarmed? She studied each face carefully, and with every look of concern on the increasing number of faces she looked at, her heart began to beat faster and faster. What did they think she had done?

"Rose, you're not…pregnant are you?"

Her eyes widened in disbelief and her mouth fell open.

"You think I'm PREGNANT!"

"Well... _are_ you?"

"What? No! Are you guys _mad?_"

"Well you said you regretted doing something-"

"And you said it was last night-"

"So we all, well, just assumed that-"

"You're mad. You're all bloody mad. It's me, Rose! _Rose!_ I don't _do _stuff like that! I can't believe you all thought I was pregnant!"

The four of them all collapsed with laughter. May simply laughed at the sound of everyone else's laughing. Rose soon felt her sides aching, yet she could not stop the uncontrollable fits of laughter that kept bursting out of her mouth. The idea of her being pregnant was just so ridiculous, so absurd that every time she thought about it, she doubled up with laughter. After a few hysterical moments, the laughter died down and they all sat grinning at each other.

"I've got to say, you guys _really_ jump to conclusions." May quietly observed. You assume Rose is pregnant just when you hear that she's done something she'd regret?"

"I guess that, quite evidently, we over-react." was the simple answer, declared by Dom.

"Still, I'm glad that's cleared up! You guys would've walked away from here thinking I was gonna have a baby!"

"Well, I'm bloody glad you haven't. It'd frighten the crap out of Uncle Ron." grinned Dom.

"Plus, I think either Molly or Lucy have dibs on that. I reckon they wanna scare Uncle Percy into an early grave." laughed Roxy.

"But, Rose, there is something you needed to talk about." reminded May.

"Oh, yeah." said Lily, "carry on, then."

Rose took a deep breath and began to narrate.  
>"Oh well basically, I was on the phone to Scorp last night, and we were talking-"<p>

"Wait. Scorp?" asked Dominique.

"Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy, to be precise." said May.

"Wait. You and Scorpius are _friends?_" asked Roxy.

"Erm, well we talk in class."

"And you text, and you have late night phone conversations. That's friends allright. More than friends by the sound of it." said Dom.

"No, no, it's nothing like that- we're just friends."

"Okay, so then what's the problem?"

"Well, it's nothing big. I just- I think-"

"Get it out, girl!" cackled Lily in an excellent imitation of Great Aunt Muriel.  
>"Come on, Rose. Say it."<p>

"Well, we were talking, and just joking around, and then he said that he talks to and texts other girls as well, and I kinda got pissed off when he said that."

"You got pissed, because he said that?" asked May incredulously.

"Hey, Weasley temper. It doesn't take a lot to set us off."

"But you got annoyed because of that?" asked May again.

"Erm, yeah, I guess." Rose said, shrugging.

"With all due respect, Rose, isn't that an overreaction, even for _your _Weasley temper? I bet half the things you said to Scorpius were just you teasing him."

"Well, yes, they were actually." she admitted reluctantly. "I said I'd been talking to a whole load of guys and I guess he just said that as part of his comeback."

"Looks like we're not the only ones who over-react." Dom pointed out.

"At least you _know_ that you went all OTT." said Roxanne.

"Yes guys, I know I over reacted. Don't remind me. My question is, why?"

"Why, what?" asked May.

"Why did I over react?" Rose asked, addressing everyone.

"You're the know it all, Rosie, you tell us." said Lily.

"I might be academic but I don't have a clue what to do in times like this."

"Hmm. Here's what I think. Rose, you're an idiot." said Lily.

"Thanks Lily, that makes me feel so much better." muttered Rose.

"I didn't mean it like that, I just meant you're being dopey getting angry with Scorpius for no reason. We all have Weasley tempers and they've never flared up over something that small." she explained.

"You know what I think? I reckon she got angry at the _thought_ of Scorpius talking to other girls. As in, she didn't get jealous of the comeback. She became jealous at the though of Scorpius talking to other girls and leaving her out." said Dom.

"I think you're right there, Dom." said Lily.

"Me too," said May, nodding her head.

"I think that's the most plausible explanation I've heard. I guess I just didn't like the idea of him not bothering to talk to me." Rose said, enlightened.

"The question now, is, how clever is Scorpius Malfoy?" said Roxanne.

"What d'you mean?" asked Lily and Rose, both confused.

"Well, will he have realised that Rosie freaked out and got pissed because he said he talks to other girls? Even if it was just said jokingly?" she explained.

"I think he will. I actually said to him that if he's got so many people to talk to he can call one of them."

"Hmm. I guess you'll have to say that you were tired and grumpy. Oh, and that you were on your period. Then he'll get embarrassed and refuse to say anything more about it."

Rose gave Lily a disapproving look. "I'm not going to tell Scorpius _that! _God, imagine how awkward that would be. No, I'll stick to the tired and grumpy excuse."

"Just do what you want then. Guys are stupid anyway, they'll suck up anything you say." shrugged Lily. "I might use that excuse sometime for myself though." Lily was typical like that- she said what she wanted to say and didn't give a damn about who might get offended or embarrassed.  
>"Has he tried to call you since then, Rose?" asked May.<p>

"Yeah, he's texted a few times and he's called but I didn't know what to say so I ignored it." replied Rose.

"Well, at least he was decent enough to call back then." said May.

"Just be careful, Rosie. If he really _does_ talk to a lot of girls and it _does _annoy you that much, be careful. You wouldn't want to get hurt." advised Dom.

"If he does, we'll just get Teddy, Louis, James, Fred, Albus and Hugo to batter him. There isn't exactly a shortage of guys in our family." said Lily.

"Don't forget me and Dom. We weren't Beaters for nothing." added Roxy.

"Forget that, all we have to do is tell Uncle Ron and he'll go off on a mad one!" said Dom, laughing.

"Oh, goodness, don't remind me- the first thing he said when he saw Scorpius was that I should beat him in every test and that it was a good thing I inherited my mother's brains."

'Typical Uncle Ron." said Lily, shaking her head.

"But I don't plan on falling in love or anything like that with Scorpius Malfoy. Definitely not. We're strictly friends. I just don't like the thought of being ignored or unappreciated by anyone, not just Scorpius."

Suddenly, a phone rang; its vibration grating against Rose's bedside table. Dom reached for the phone, saw who was calling, and grinned. She handed it to Rose.

"It's not him, is it?" she whispered anxiously.

"Oh, yes it is." Dom replied. "Answer the damn thing!"

Rose gingerly took the phone in her hand and stared at it. Time to embarrass herself and admit how stupid she'd been. She felt the others' eyes on her and decided that if she was going to pick up the phone, it would be without them there. She walked briskly out of the room and into the attic. Rose sighed deeply. She was alone. The question in her mind now, however, was whether to pick up or not.


	9. We're Cool

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K Rowling. I don't own any of it.**

Rose's finger hovered over the red button. She could end the call right there and then. But that would just add to her worries. If she just picked up and cleared things with Scorpius, everything would be fine and she could look forward to going back to Hogwarts without having to stress over the awkwardness of working with Scorpius. She steeled herself to face up to the situation and reminded herself that she was a Gryffindor. Before she could back out of it, she pressed the green button and held the phone to her ear.

"Hello? Rose? Hello?"

"Yes. Erm, hi."

"Rose! Finally, you picked up! I've been trying to call for the past two days! Why haven't you been picking up?"

"Well, you see, I've been busy with schoolwork and haven't had the time to really check my phone." She winced. Telling the truth had obviously gone out of the window. Then again, she wasn't all that surprised- when did people ever readily admit that they made a mistake?

"Schoolwork?" he asked sceptically. "Rose, you're lazier than Al when it comes to doing work at home. You keep work at school and you put your family and friends first when you're at home."

"Oh, yeah? How do you know that?" she scoffed.

"Rose, I spent the last three months of fifth year getting to know you. You can't argue that we haven't talked a lot."

"People who know each other for years talk a lot and only after a few years do they begin to know each other properly." she retorted dismissively.

"Well, like I said, we talked a lot. It might take time to build trust, but talking and learning about another person doesn't take long. Maybe getting them to open up to you takes time, but I'm comfortable around you and I thought you were comfortable around me. I thought we were friends?"

"We are."

"Then why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not. I said already, I've been busy with schoolwork."

"Don't lie to me, Rose. I know you well enough to know when you're lying."

"Haven't I already said that three months isn't enough time to get to know a person?" she repeated, growing frustrated.

"It is when you see the person everyday. I see you every day, Rose. We talked every day for the last three months. We've talked at like, 2 am for two days in a row. We talk."

"Okay, I get it. We talk."

"So, are you going to tell me why you've been avoiding me?" he insisted.

"I haven't been avoiding you."

"I'm gonna forget you said that. I know it's something to do with the last time we spoke."

Damn. He _had_ noticed. Well, it was time to come out with it.

"Right. About that." she said slowly, her anger waning.

"So it _is_ about that! I knew it!" he said jubilantly. She smiled in spite of her anger. It was cute how he got so happy about being right. His tone changed. "Its cause of what I said about the other girls, right? You got jealous." he said smugly.

"I didn't!" she objected.

"Did!"

"Didn't!"

"You did, Rose, you got jealous." he said matter of factly.

"No, I didn't. I was just really grumpy that day. You kept me waiting again for your call, Scorp. And I was tired as it is. And at that time of night, the slightest thing anyone could have said would have pissed me off." she countered.

"Oh. Okay. I get it."

"Good, I'm glad you understand."

"Are you _sure _you weren't jealous?" he asked teasingly.

"Positive. I was in no way jealous, I was just moody and angry."

"Okay then. I believe you." There was something about his tone that reassured her that he really did believe her and didn't have any clue as to that was going on. She sighed in relief. Lily was right, she thought. Guys _are _stupid.

"Great."

"Does that mean we're cool now?"

"Yeah, we were never uncool to begin with."

"Speak for yourself."

"What, you think you're cool?" she asked dubiously.

"Nope." He said, shrugging. "I don't _think _I'm cool. I _know_ I am."

"Keep dreaming, Scorp. And get over yourself."

"I'd rather not, Rosie dearest. I love myself just the way I am."

She snorted. "I can believe that. I don't think I've ever seen anyone more in love with themselves than you."

"Hey, I consider that an insult."

"So you should."

"Oh, shut up Rose."

"If I shut up, you'll be left talking to yourself. And no matter how amazing you claim to be, I doubt you'll like talking to yourself."

"Ooh, bringing out threats now, are we, Weaselbug?"

"Shut it, Scorpiarse."

"Hmm. That's a new one. I like it."

"Good. I'll be sure to tell James and Fred. They'll gladly inform the entire school of your new name."

"Oh, please don't, Rose." he said, with genuine discomfort. "Anyone but them."

"Nope, my mind's made up, I'm telling them." She laughed mock-evilly.

As if on cue, James and Fred burst into the attic yelling for Rose.

"Oh, Rose, the girlies are wondering where you've gone." said James.

"Yeah, they're all worried that a Boggart's locked you in a wardrobe and he's scared the shit outta you." explained Fred.

"Hey, what would be your biggest fear anyway, Rose?"

"It wouldn't be failing like your mum, would it? I heard she ran out of the third year Defence exam screaming that McGonagall had failed her in every subject."

"Well, I've already though Aunt Hermione was a little OCD with grades"

"I think it runs in the family."

"You might just be right there, Freddy boy."

"Could you guys go now?"

"Allright, Dosie, cool it. What's gotten your wand in a knot?" asked James.

"Nothing, I just want you to go away." The two boys rolled their eyes and gestured that they weren't going anywhere.

"Please?" she whined. "Please, please, _please?"_

"Nope. Not moving."

" Pretty please with a galleon on top?"

"Nope."

Rose sighed. It was time to take action. Grovelling got tiring after a bit. She innocently edged closer towards the two boys, all the while taking care to look exasperated with their stubbornness, and then, once she was satisfied that she was close enough to do some damage, she promptly shouted.

"JAMES POTTER AND FRED WEASLEY, IF THE TWO OF YOU DON'T GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW, I'M GOING TO HEX YOU GUYS SO BAD THAT EVEN YOUR CHILDREN'S _CHILDREN _WILL FEEL IT! IF YOU PUT _ONE_ MORE TOE OUT OF LINE…" She trailed off, adding a glare and a trembling lip of anger for effect. Evidently it worked, for the two boys recoiled at the sound of her voice. Clutching their ears, they made a beeline for the stairs.

"Allright, chill out, Dosie. No need to shout. You've given me a headache." said James, rubbing his temples.

"I can do a lot worse than that, mate." Rose warned dangerously.

"Okay, okay. We'll leave you alone." said Fred.

James sighed.

"Fine." he said reluctantly. "We're not _complete _Voldemort's. We're going."

"I want to show you this video of these mad muggles who get scared by playing these games, anyway. This ghost pops up in the middle of the screen and they scream so loudly, it's hilarious."

"Muggles are nutters. Why would you even get scared of that?"

"Oh, I don't know. They're just really funny. You have to watch them."

"Allright, allright. I'll watch these mad muggles."

"Oh, by the way, Rosie, get your ass downstairs. The girlies are calling you. Get downstairs before they lose their temper. They looked really anxious. I wouldn't wanna mess with them." said Fred, before exiting the room with James.

"Tell them I'm coming." she called after them.

They left and Rose was finally able to return to her conversation with Scorpius.

"Sorry about that, Scorp."

"Don't be, I'm watching these crazy muggles and they're hilarious!"

She chuckled. "Glad Fred and James are of _some_ use. Listen Scorp, I'm gonna have to go." she said grudgingly.

"Oh. Okay then. I'll let you go." His tone was reluctant.

"Bye then. I'll see you soon."

"Yep. Can't wait."

"Bye then."

"Bye."

Rose put down the phone and sighed in relief. Hopefully things were going to be allright now.

**A/N: I'm planning on having some more shocking events coming up, so I do hope you're not getting bored of the story or anything, and if you are a bit bored, please do stick with it, I promise things will get more interesting. I don't really know whether you guys like the story so far, or if you have any suggestions on how I can improve, so, as always, reviews would be great :)**


	10. Mutual Understanding

Life seemed to have a funny habit of putting people through a circle, where they would be subjected to the harshest emotional and physical pains that they had, up until that point, never experienced. It then seemed to reward said people for making it through such confusion and pain, by giving them periods of time when they would be blissfully happy. The inevitable and unfortunate truth, however, was that the circle, as all circles, was ongoing, and just as happiness came around, pain did too; claiming people's time as its own. It was this very circle that Rose Weasley soon found herself embroiled in, though it would take its time to show its face.

The events of the summer holidays were still fresh in her mind as Rose boarded the Hogwarts Express. She hurried through the train, trying to find the compartment in which _he _would be sitting. Albus was already on the train, and no doubt the two of them would be catching up on the events of the holidays. She had glimpsed the blond head of his father as she made her way onto the platform, but the restrictive arms of her parents bidding goodbye to her had made it near impossible to even see Scorpius, let alone talk to him.

"Rose!" a familiar voice called.

Rose stopped her hasty dash through the train corridor and turned around to see who was calling her. May stood behind her, an excitable grin lighting up her features. It has been a good few weeks since the two of them had seen each other, and Rose had missed having someone her age to talk to. Her cousins were of course excellent company, but her best friend was irreplaceable.

"May!" she exclaimed happily. The two immediately began to chatter about their holidays, and it was only midway through their conversation that Rose realised that everyone had gotten into a compartment and she and May were left in the middle of the corridor. She opened her mouth to suggest that they find some seats but before she could, a mildly urgent voice floated up towards them from a near compartment.

"Erm, May? Don't wanna interrupt your little conversation, but the bloody train's gonna start moving in a minute!" Albus called.

May jumped. Albus's voice had evidently startled her.

"Yeah, allright, we're coming!" replied Rose, grabbing May's hand and quickly edging into the compartment, where Al and Scorpius were sitting. She took care not to look at Scorpius and sat down in relief. The train had just started moving with a great lurch and she was thankful that she wasn't in the middle of the corridor- the way the train had moved, she was sure she would've fallen over. It didn't help that she was quite prone to falling over anyway.

"So, how are you all, guys?" asked Albus.

"Allright." shrugged Scorpius.

"Good." said Rose.

"Good thanks, and you?" replied May.

"All good." he said.

Albus and May soon struck up a conversation about lessons and holidays and some other waffle that Rose didn't bother paying attention to. She was too busy looking out of the window at the rolling hills and bright splashes of green. She resisted the urge to look at Scorpius, but soon found herself looking towards him. Her jaw almost dropped. Six weeks had changed him.

The freckles that littered his face previously had faded away, and his untidy mess of hair had been tamed; the unruly locks of hair near his forehead now fell in a diagonal fringe lightly over his eyes. His platinum blond hair was now a much warmer shade of yellow (had he dyed it?) and it complemented his green-grey eyes beautifully.

"Erm, Rose?" he asked.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"Why are you staring at me?"

Crap. She had been staring too long at him. 'Stupid, Rose! Stupid! Don't go drooling all over him!' she chastised herself.

"Oh, you just look a little different, that's all." she said nonchalantly.

His eyebrows creased, and Scorpius wondered what she was talking about. Rose was the one who had changed. Her hair was auburn as opposed to the usual ruby, as she had described it, and it was tied up in two little plaits which reached to just past her shoulders. She now had a gentle fringe that framed her face. She looked cute. Not hot or pretty, but she had a look of innocent endearment about her.

"Oh. Do I? You're the one that's changed." he said, directing the conversation away from himself.

"Not much has changed really, but hey, I did _say _I had auburn hair now." she grinned.

"Oh, right yeah, I remember now. So, are you looking forward to going back to Hogwarts?"

"Sort of. I'm not all that keen on the non stop NEWT work but if it's challenging, I'm sure I'll find it fun."

He nodded in understanding. "That's cool."

"What about you?" she asked.

"Looking forward to the lessons really, and the food- there's no food like Hogwarts food. Oh, and most of all, being back with my friends."

"I take it you didn't have much company in the holidays, then. What about your cousin? Wasn't he going to come visit?"

"Oh, he couldn't make it. I'm going home in October, you know, like how muggles have half term?"

It was Rose's turn to nod in comprehension.

"Yeah, I know what half term is."

"It's good that McGonagall's put in stuff like half term. Even if it is only for a week."

"I'm glad it's not for longer, though, if it was, I'd miss Hogwarts like mad." said Rose.

"Agreed. But you go home for half term anyway. I usually stay at Hogwarts, so I'll probably miss it even more this year."

"Why _do _you stay at Hogwarts?"

"Let's just say I'm not that big a fan of staying at home, and leave it at that." He said it casually but Rose could tell there were underlying issues. Still, she decided not to pursue the matter.

"Rosie? You're a Prefect, right?" asked Albus after a few minutes.

"Good God, don't remind me." she muttered, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"It's allright, Rose. Just because you're not Head-" started May comfortingly. She was cut off by a glare from Rose.

"Don't. Mention. It." she said, through gritted teeth. "You either." she said, directing a scowl towards Albus.

"Well, I don't mean to mention it, but don't you have a meeting?"

"It's not until half one. And it's only just gone half twelve, Al." Rose said irritably.

"Allright, don't bite my head off. Just thought I'd show some cousin-brotherly love and ask." said Albus, with irritation.

"And I was only trying to comfort you, Rose!" said May, hurt.

"Sorry, Al. And you May, I'm sorry." Rose apologised. "I just really wanted Head Girl." she said in a small voice.

"Oh. I was wondering why you were getting upset." remarked Scorpius, though not unkindly.

Rose sighed. "I guess I can't change McGonagall's decision." she said. A hint of bitterness bled through her voice.

"I think McGonagall's getting a bit senile in her old age anyway." said Scorpius, trying to lighten the mood.

"I agree with Scorp, actually. Old Minerva's losing her marbles." said Al cheerily.

"But McGonagall doesn't really have marbles, though. So why would you say that?" May enquired confusedly.

"It's a Muggle expression." Scorpius explained.

"Oh."

"Don't stress about it though, Rose. I guess it just wasn't meant to be." Scorpius said.

"I just really wanted to make my parents proud though, yannoe?" she said unhappily.

"We do know." answered Albus. "But they have so much other stuff to be proud of about you that's not to do with academics. I mean, at least you're not like Molly, in one bed one night, another bed the next."

Rose laughed. "That's true. And anyway, who am I to complain? I have you guys!" she said brightly, trying to mask how bad she was actually feeling.

"Exactly. Plus, you deserved it over Holly anyway." said May.

"Oh, tell me about it. She's _nothing _compared to you, Rose." declared Albus proudly.

"Thanks, guys, but she actually is. She's pretty and funny and smart and, well, practically perfect." Rose was suddenly aware of how crestfallen she sounded, and how her friends were about to open their mouths to argue, so she quickly added, "But still, who cares about her when I have you guys?" Albus and May smiled and she knew she had countered their worries.

Rose wouldn't show how much this had knocked her confidence in herself. She knew she was a good student and all, but she felt as though she had failed her parents. Not only had that disheartened her, but Holly being picked over her had hit home how hard she would have to work. And just to add it all, Holly had indirectly made it clear that she was now her competition. Between the smug smiles, snide looks and the surprisingly convincing act Holly put up of being an innocent little creature; Rose had developed a deep dislike of her. 

Rose hadn't managed to fully hide away her disappointment, however. Scorpius had seen the sad shadow in her eyes which had gone unnoticed by Albus and May.  
>"Still, McGonagall's loss, eh? I'm sure you would've made a great Head Girl." Scorpius said comfortingly. May and Albus indicated their agreement.<p>

He added in an undertone, "And I completely understand how you feel about pleasing your parents. Will took my place- I didn't even get Prefect, and my dad expected that much of me. Still, who cares, eh?" he said, winking.

Rose smiled gratefully. The wink, a sign of their shared understanding, seemed to cement their friendship. Scorpius had somehow silently identified with her so well in that brief moment. He understood that she wanted to be Head Girl to maintain her reputation and fulfill the endless task of pleasing her parents- a task which she had pretty much been instructed to do. He also understood that she wouldn't say anything for fear of unsettling her friends. And in a way, she understood that he wanted to please his parents and that the disappointment he felt in not exceeding his fathers expectations still stung. She also somehow recognised that he wouldn't say anything either, but would instead pretend not to care. The mutual grasp that the two had on each other's true thoughts only highlighted how strong their friendship was becoming. And so it was with a much lighter heart and less worry that Rose made her way to and from the Prefect's compartment. She had even managed to send a condescending congratulation to Holly and Will on their respective Head Boy and Girl places.

The next few hours passed relatively quickly, and as the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, the glowing lights of Hogwarts beckoned the students closer and welcomed them. The usual excellent feast was laid out and no one had any trouble in ravenously demolishing the never ending piles of food heaped upon the tables. Chattering and laughter echoed loudly through the Great Hall, and after a while, it was time for bed.

Rose made her way up to her dormitory with May and sank, relieved, onto her warm bed. She was back at Hogwarts. She was with her cousins, and May, and Scorpius. Her heart lifted a little at that. She glanced out of her window overlooking the Quidditch grounds, and as she did, she glimpsed a figure staring at her from the opposite Ravenclaw Tower. Rose could just make out a malicious smirk on the face of one Holly Bertrand. Rose narrowed her eyes and vowed to strengthen every asset she had that she could use against Holly. It was time to bring her down.

**A/N: I'm quite pleased with this chapter, I feel as though it's one of my more stronger pieces of writing, and I hope you all liked it. This is the tenth chapter (yay!) and that's quite an achievement for me, because I've never continued with a story like this (as in, a multi chapter story) long enough for it to reach ten chapters, (mainly because of a lack of encouragement) but you, my wonderful readers and reviewers have made encouraged me to carry on with this story, so thank you all!**

**Thank you to Sianatra, FireIgnitesUs, DizzyPotter and the-writing-vampire for taking the time to review :)**

**And also, thank you to everyone who's added this story to their Story Alert or Favourite Story list- that's Sianatra, FireIgnitesUs, 3rdemosewa, magiclastsforever, luna-lovegood-77, ChoclateyBooks4ever, kirra993, KCRedPanda98, TheGreekGods, Jalice Hale, undertheimpression, Heather Jayne, twi360amylouise and last but definitely not least, DizzyPotter. It's great to know that people somewhere out there are reading my story.**

**I do hope you all liked this chapter. And if you did, leave a review and let me know what you thought of it :)**


	11. Poisoned Holly, Polluted Skies

**A/N: I firstly apologise sincerely for the really late update, I never dreamed I'd update this late. I've just been busy with exams and other stuff. From now on, I plan to update every week hopefully. I'm a real procrastinator though, and I'm known for starting something and then not finishing it. So a bit of encouragement and a few words if I'm getting lazy would be good. **

**This chapter was a bit hard for me to write, I just didn't have many ideas at all. And then, I _finally _got an idea at midnight and I just had to write it. So, this chapter's been written in the dark of the night but I think it's not bad, considering I'm half dazed and the only thing keeping me awake is the fact that I finally have something decent to post. Plus, it's much longer than the usual chapters, so I _must_ be feeling bad for not updating in so long. **

**Anyways, I'm rambling as usual so I'll let you carry on reading. Before I do, though, just a little disclaimer- I don't own anything but May, Will, and Holly Bertrand, who are all figments of my imagination. **

**Oh, and a warning: this chapter contains swearing. That is all. On with the story!**

Rose Weasley wasn't all that accustomed to taking revenge on people. In fact, she hardly managed to get into the type of situation where people would be angry with her. It wasn't that she wasn't capable of looking after herself in a fight (though that notion was somewhat challenged by her physical appearance), she just didn't really make an enemy out of anyone. If anything, she preferred to keep the peace between people, and though she had her impulsive outbursts of anger, she had gotten quite good at keeping her temper at bay since the _incident_ with Scorpius in the holidays. That all changed, however, when she met Holly Bertrand. Or rather, when Holly Bertrand met her and decided to belittle and undermine Rose as much as possible.

The decision to take revenge on Holly was a big thing for Rose. She didn't like making people feel bad, because she believed firmly that what went around came back around. It was after a number of events that everyone else had to tell Rose that she needed to let Holly know what she was dealing with.

Rose had initially intended to take Holly down. When she thought about it, however, she didn't know what to do to make Holly feel bad. She could try to beat her in class; though that was something she tried naturally to do- to be the best. She thought of hurting her emotionally, but that was a bit too much for a petty competition. Rose then decided that she would leave it. A bit of healthy competition never did anyone any harm. And she didn't want to waste time being angry at Holly Bertrand. Being angry at Scorpius like she had been in the summer was okay because she cared about him. Holly Bertrand wasn't even someone Rose cared about.

The number of events that had gradually led Rose to take Holly down was quite large. At first, Rose couldn't even see that Holly was doing such things, and it took May, Albus, and Scorpius to make her see sense. Rose wondered why the whole clan had gotten involved and it was only after the fifth incident that she rethought the whole situation and reflected on the things Holly had done and how stupid she had been.

Firstly, there was the time when Rose's entire six foot long written, timed and illustrated essay was ruined by Rachel Biscoe. Rachel had spilled an entire bottle of ink on Rose's work and afterwards said that Holly had accidentally nudged her elbow, which Rose found perfectly plausible until May pointed out that Holly and Rachel were bosom friends and an 'accident' was highly unlikely.

The second time in the eventful list was when Rose found her shoelaces tied together after walking into the Great Hall for supper after Potions, and tripped over the bench as she sat down at the Gryffindor table, causing everyone on the Slytherin table to laugh at her. Rose blamed this on herself and her muddled state in the afternoon after she had fallen asleep in the library during lunch. It was Albus who had pointed out that the only reason she was in the library was because she had to rewrite her essay._ And_ Holly had been at the table behind her, giving her ample time to tie Rose's shoelaces together.

The third time was when Rose woke up to find her hair dyed neon orange, a far cry from the auburn hair she was normally found sporting. She had no explanation for this, but after initially freaking out, she shrugged it off and did a simple spell to change her hair colour back before anyone else woke up. Even if Holly had intended to embarrass her, it hadn't worked.

The fourth happening was when Professor Vespifor, the Astronomy teacher and Ravenclaw Head of House sentenced her to a week in detention for taking Holly's notes which were found in Rose's Potions book that she had forgotten to take after the previous lesson. A hint of doubt had crept into Rose's mind at this incident, and she got quite angry, but she brushed it off as an unfortunate series of events. The last episode, nevertheless, was the one that killed Rose's resolve to stay out of conflict.

It had been one day when the Gryffindor team were getting changed after a particularly wet and muddy Quidditch session in preparation for their mach against Ravenclaw, and Rose was sitting in the common room reading a book. She was with Albus, who was missing practise because of injuries sustained from undiluted Bubotuber pus, and who kept moaning about how Ancient Runes wasn't reading for pleasure and that the adventures of the mad muggle that her father used to read were much better.

Everything seemed perfectly fine, with Rose and Albus good naturedly bickering over reading preferences, when May and Scorpius walked into the common room, muttering about something underneath their breaths and shaking their heads in what could only be interpreted as worry and sympathy.

"What's the matter?" asked Albus in a low tone, who had put down his comic the minute Scorpius and May had entered the room.

"It was really bad, seriously." muttered Scorpius.

"I can't believe she did that." whispered May.

"What? What did _who _do?" asked Albus, a little worriedly this time, though he was careful to say it in the same low tone.

May and Scorpius looked at each other uncertainly. Scorpius motioned with his eyebrows at Rose and May shook her head. Rose, who had her head buried in Ancient Runes was paying no attention and had only registered Scorpius and May's presence with a 'hello' and a smile, not knowing that something contrary to the ordinary had happened.

May and Scorpius moved closer to Albus and began narrating in hushed tones.

"Basically, it was before practise and we were on our way down. And the Slytherins had been practising too, because obviously, now that the pitch is bigger, two teams can practise at once._ Why_ they had practise, I don't know- it should have been Ravenclaw's time. But we were so far away we couldn't see their tactics and they couldn't see ours. But as we went down to the pitch, we saw Holly with a few of the Slytherins and they didn't look as though they were up to any good." said Scorpius. He looked at May and she continued.

"Right, but when we were on our way down, all us Gryffindors, we saw Will, who was on one of his sleepwalk missions again. He must have fallen asleep at the library because it's almost curfew time now, and we saw him about an hour and a half ago. Anyway, we sort of guided him towards the portrait hole and carried on downstairs."

"Because it's not good to wake a sleeping person or something?" asked Albus.

"Yeah, we thought that we'd get him towards the common room and that someone would see him and take him to his dorm or something. Plus, he's generally harmless when sleepwalking anyway." explained May. "And then-"

She cut off quickly, because Rose had just put her Ancient Runes book down and was yawning slightly. The common room was emptying slowly and Albus took the opportunity to get Rose away.

"Rosie, why don't you head to bed?" asked Albus.

"Yeah, you seem pretty tired, Rose." echoed Scorpius, catching on quickly.

"Okay. Are you not tired, May?"

"Oh, I sort of am, but I still have my Care of Magical Creatures work to do, so I'll be up in a bit." said May.

Rose nodded and said goodnight to everyone, yawning again as she trudged up the stairs along with the rest of the people who had been in the room. The three of them listened for their retreating footsteps and only when they were sure that she had gone did May continue.

"Right, so where was I? Oh yeah, basically we left Will and when we were on our way back up, we saw Holly and the Slytherins laughing about something. And they weren't even being quiet about it, they were laughing so much."

"Evil bastards." muttered Scorpius.

"So we were thinking, what's going on here, and Holly just burst out laughing and she said that Will was 'in a bit of a predicament'. So at that point we were a bit puzzled and she literally just started cackling even more and we were getting really freaked out. And then they didn't say anything else and just walked away, and as we were coming up the corridor to the common room, we heard this wheezing. So we all ran to where the noise was coming from and we saw Will, curled up on the floor. He was having an a-amstha?"

"Asthma." corrected Scorpius.

"Yeah, an asthma attack, and then, he- well he- oh, I can't go on, you say it Scorp."

"So basically, he was just there wheezing and coughing and he looked so helpless. And then we didn't know what to do, because it's a muggle illness and any spells that we did didn't work. And we couldn't move him to take him to Madam Demurest either."

Albus's eyes were wide. "And then?" he asked frantically.

"Well, then May did _Anapneo_ to clear his airway and that helped a little but not a lot. And then thankfully, Jenny Watkins, that fourth year, she knew what to do, because she's muggle born and her sister has asthma, and she Accio-d his inhaler, which is this muggle thing they use for asthma attacks-"

"Thank god Jenny was there." muttered May in appreciation.

"So then, we gave it to him and he took it and it was all okay. He's just in the Hospital Wing now, resting." finished Scorpius.

Albus exhaled a sigh of relief.

"It frightened the crap out of me, though." said May.

"Thank god you guys were there. And Jenny. But what does Holly have to do with all of this?" Albus asked, puzzled.

"I'm getting to that. Will told us that he was having his attack, right, the beginning part of it, and that Holly was there with her Slytherin bunch- _why_ she hangs around with them I don't know, I thought Ravenclaws were meant to be_ good_- and they all saw Will and they didn't do anything to help him. In fact, Holly pulled out some deodorant and sprayed it right in his face, and that just worsened the attack. By the time we got to him, literally, he had like minutes to live because his airways were that void of oxygen. They just left him." said Scorpius.

"You mean- he could- he could have _died?_" asked Albus, horrified.

"Yeah. If we hadn't gotten to him in time, he could have been dead."

May was shaking her head as though trying to dispel the event from her mind. Albus extended a comforting arm around her. She shivered a little at his touch, but was grateful. Scorpius rolled his eyes and smiled at Albus knowingly, something that May didn't see.

"But wait, why didn't you want Rose to know all of this? Surely Holly would have _helped_ Will cause they're partners in Potions? She goes on about how Holly upstages her all the time and how Will is just, well, there."

"Did Rose tell you about how Professor Ankra made us switch back to our original partners?" asked Scorpius. "No, she wouldn't have, we only had Potions yesterday and it wasn't exactly a pressing matter." he concluded, answering his own question.

"I take it Rose has something to do with this?" asked Albus anxiously.

"Well, Holly seems to have gotten it into her head that Rose was the one who told Professor Ankra that you swapped partners and that's why Will isn't working with her anymore." said May.

"How do you know?" asked Scorpius.

"Rose told me that Holly seemed to have extra pissed-off-ness sprinkled on her oatmeal this morning, and that it was probably because of Potions."

"But why does not being partners with Will matter that much to Holly anyway? Surely if she wanted to be his partner that much she would have helped him." wondered Albus.

"I don't know. Maybe she was just looking for an excuse to blame something else on Rose."

"That bitch. I don't understand why she had to do something like that, I mean walking away from someone in need!" exclaimed Albus.

Scorpius sighed in disgust. "It's just cruel. And I come from a family of Slytherins, that's saying something."

"Will's not angry at Rose though is he?"

"No, of course not, he knows its Holly being a bitch."

"We just thought it best not to tell Rose , because she has a habit of getting really guilty about things and this would just drive her to the edge." explained May.

"Hmm. I agree with you there. Rose is quite sensitive about things that way. She gets angry easily, but damn does she regret it afterwards." agreed Albus.

"Exactly. Like in the holidays with-" started May, who abruptly closed her mouth.

"Like what in the holidays? With who?" asked Scorpius.

"Oh, nothing. Never mind, it's not important. It's the tiredness talking, don't worry."

"O…kay." Scorpius said uncertainly.

"Bloody hell though, that's a lot that's happened. Poor Will. Poor Rose." said Albus.

"We need to make sure she doesn't hear about this. For her own peace of mind." said May

"Agreed."

"Too late." said a quiet voice. Albus, May and Scorpius whipped their heads round to see Rose standing at the foot of the stairs, an angry glint in her eye with a shadow of guilt etched underneath it.

"I'm taking Holly Bertrand down. And this time, I mean it."


	12. Sherbet Snitches & Conversation Snatches

Albus, Scorpius and May just stared at Rose.

"But Rose, you can't." whispered May, after what seemed like ages.

"Why not?" she demanded angrily.

"Because, it'll make things worse for poor Will." said Scorpius, answering the question for May.

"I thought you guys were telling me a few days ago that I _should _get revenge on her?"

"That was when we thought she had some petty feud with you. Now it's serious. She left Will lying on the floor and didn't give a damn if he died, just because you work with Will now that Professor Ankra has swapped your partners back." he replied.

"Exactly. So you see how it's my fault." she said. The guilt and worry masked under the anger in her voice could be detected easily.

"It's not your fault!" said Albus and May vehemently, which only fuelled the anger in Rose's eyes. Scorpius said it in a quieter tone, which struck a chord with Rose's worry, and it was in a half angry, half desperate voice that she asked the question that had been running through her mind since she heard the raised, and then, hushed voices and had come down to investigate.

"Whose fault is it then? Professor Ankra's? Holly's? Will's _own_ fault, for having asthma?" she said, her voice getting higher with every name. The distress was evident. She took a deep breath, calmed herself, and it was with a slightly cooler tone that she then spoke again.

"It's my fault and I'll fix it." she said in a tone that indicated the end of the matter.

"But Rose, you can't. What if she does something like that to you?" asked May, voicing the unspoken concern of both Albus and Scorpius.

"I can take care of myself. I appreciate you guys advising me but this is something that needs to be done. And I have to do it on my own."

* * *

><p>A few days passed, and although Rose had not mentioned revenge, nor even breathed a word in regards to Will or Holly, it was clear that she was planning something. It was thus in the mostly empty common room that the four friends sat, where May tentatively brought up the subject.<p>

"Rose, about your plan to do something about the Holly situation…" she trailed off, not wanting to say it outright. Albus and Scorpius who had previously been discussing the latest Wizarding Snap cards promptly sat upright, attentive.

"I haven't forgotten about it. I'm gonna get back at that scumbag. She deserves what's coming to her."

"Too right she does. I say you get her good. She's a lowlife. The lowest of the low."

Rose frowned in confusion. "You're not usually like this, May."

"Yeah, I haven't seen this side of you before." remarked Albus.

"I'm sure there's a lot of her you haven't seen, mate." muttered Scorpius, snickering under his breath. Albus elbowed him and Scorpius immediately resumed a straight face. Rose and May just looked at each other in confusion, not having heard what Scorpius had said.

"I just think she needs what's coming to her, that's all. I've noticed her horrid behaviour before and she's really not all that nice a person. I was wondering if you were gonna do something about it." continued May.

"Of course I am. I've just been busy with exams." Rose reassured her.

"But exams aren't even here yet!" said Albus, outraged.

"It's not even Christmas yet!" Scorpius exclaimed, echoing Albus's sentiments.

"It's only just gone HALLOWEEN!" Albus bellowed, re-iterating his point.

"Regardless, it's always good to have prior knowledge of a subject. There's nothing wrong with a bit of reading beforehand and some practise exam questions." Rose replied blithely.

"I agree, Rose. It's good to know what you're going to be studying in advance. It's an advantage, if anything." said May, nodding her head in agreement.

"Now that sounds like May, allright!" said Rose mock-approvingly.

May smiled back at her. "Though we will throw in time for scheming as well." Rose smiled mischievously, a smile that seemed to agree exactly with what May was saying.

"Right well, since you all seem so hell bent on revenge, I'm in too.' said Albus.

"Me too. I don't wanna miss out on all the fun." Scorpius confirmed.

"Great. We'll have to do something pretty serious, though, if you want to get her good." said Albus.

"Right, well, how about you and May go down to the kitchens and grab us some food, then. I could do with a few pumpkin pasties." suggested Scorpius. "I'm sure you'll want something as well, Albus." he added, with a grin. A delicate tinge of red appeared on Albus's cheeks and he swatted at Scorpius's head in embarrassment.

"I'll get you some sherbet snitches. I know how much you love them." said May, unaware of the private joke between Albus and Scorpius that Rose had started to pick up on.

"Wait, those things which are a blatant copy of those muggle flying saucer sweets? You like those?" asked Scorpius, all trace of teasing Albus gone.

"Yes. Why? Are you trying to insinuate sherbet snitches are _plagiarised_ from Muggles?" asked Rose, narrowing her eyes.

"I am, actually." said Scorpius, shrugging.

"Tough. The wizard ones are better."

"No, they're not! The muggle ones have _actual_ sherbet in them. The wizard ones just have a weak copy of it."

"Oh, sherbet's that stuff that looks like drugs!" interjected Albus.

"No, its sherbet. Drugs are disgusting. Sherbet is seductive." grinned Scorpius.

Albus just laughed along with May and the two of them exited the common room, unnoticed by Rose and Scorpius, who didn't seem to be stopping their sherbet related banter anytime soon.

"Did you just describe sherbet as seductive?" asked Rose incredulously.

"Yes I did. Got a problem with it?"

"Not at all. If _that's_ what floats your boat…"

"And if it does?" asked Scorpius.

"Then I'm sure all the poorgirlies at Hogwarts would be _quite_ distressed."

"Well luckily for _you_, it doesn't float my boat."

"Why would that be lucky for _me?_"

"No reason." he shrugged nonchalantly.

The way he looked at Rose, however, was in a way that suggested he knew more about her feelings for him than she had told anyone, let alone him. Of course, she hadn't even considered her feelings for Scorpius for a long time, and they hadn't been together, having a proper conversation with just the two of them since the phone calling days of the summer break. Rose pushed the thoughts out of her mind, choosing not to concentrate on them. She had succeeded in not thinking about them for a while now. The fact that she was with him now, however, in a half deserted common room, and more to the point, _alone_ with him in a corner of said common room, made it hard for her not to ponder her feelings for Scorpius. And though Rose carried on the conversation indifferently, it would have been clear to anyone looking in from the outside that there was a hint of chemistry between the two, and the conversation that passed between them, certainly from Rose's side, was laced with something more than just friendly banter.

* * *

><p><strong>A\N: I apologise profusely for the late update, I've just been so busy with exams and school that I haven't had time to just sit down and write. *hides face because of her crappy, <em>yet true<em>, excuse***

**Also, I just discovered how to do the line break! It's quite a big achievement for me *grins***

**I hope you all liked the chapter- I haven't gotten to the actual revenge bit yet because I'm still thinking of something that's badass enough, so there are a few filler chapters in between, where I'm planning on doing some relationship development. Any ideas or suggestions on what the revenge could be are very welcome; it would be great to hear from you guys.**

**Sorry again for the late update, I plan to have the next chapter up by next week, hopefully *crosses fingers***


	13. Polyjuice

"Plan's off."

"What?!" squawked Albus. It was a few days later and the four were, as usual, in their corner of the common room. The plan had been perfected and the last minute details were being ironed out. Rose, however, was having second thoughts.

"Rose, this is the third time you've said that the plans off. Everything's perfect- just do it. It's not exactly anything hard- all we're going to do is counter every bad thing she did to you." said Albus.

"I don't know." Her tone was uncertain. "I'm not sure if I want to go through with this."

"Rose!" They all screamed exasperatedly. She looked back at them with an apologetic smile that said only too clearly how she felt about the whole operation.

"Rose, I know you're worried, but it's okay. We're just giving her a taste of her own medicine." said May encouragingly.

"Exactly- what about Will almost dying? Your essay getting ruined?"

"Don't you _want _to get her back?" asked Albus.

"I do, but… I don't know. I just don't know whether I want to go through with this or not."

"Then let us decide for you- I say we go through with it." said Albus.

"Agreed."

"So it's final. We're doing it and there's nothing you can do to stop us." Scorpius stated smugly.

"Well technically, I'm the one who's supposed to be carrying out the dastardly deeds. But you can't force me." countered Rose.

"Yes, we can. Have you never heard of Polyjuice potion?" scoffed Scorpius.

"Well of course I have- oh. _Oh._" Rose said suddenly, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

The other three regarded her curiously.

Albus spoke up. "What?"

"I've just had a brainwave."

"And what, pray tell, is your brainwave?"

"Pray tell?" snickered Scorpius under his breath. Albus rolled his eyes and ignored Scorpius's snigger.

"Go on then, Rose. Tell us."

Rose smiled mischievously. "Polyjuice potion."

* * *

><p><strong> AN: So I haven't updated in a good few months and after finally finishing exams and getting over writers block, and a whole load of other stuff, I have finally come back to this story. My sincerest apologies to all of you faithful readers who are reading this chapter. Also, I know this chapter's really short and that not much happens in it, but it's all leading up to the next chapter, which will most definitely be longer and will have more exciting events in it. Also, big thank you's to DizzyPotter for never failing to review every chapter and to Naisa who has faithfully reviewed every single chapter :) !**


	14. Remembrance, Reflection

In the months that had passed since Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy became friends, there was, to the outside word, a very clear indication that the two of them harboured feelings for each other. In the midst of the (abandoned) planning against Rose's (once) sworn enemy, Holly, and between study sessions in the library and late night talks in the common room, Scorpius and Rose's friendship had reached new heights.

The reason for such progression in their friendship, although partly due to the strengthening of ties over time, as usually happens with friends, was because of a certain Holly Betrand. And not because of the scheming and plotting against her, as one would think. In regards to the scheming and plotting, that had been called off completely. Rather, it was the reasons why it had been called off that enlightened Scorpius as to Rose's true character, and in turn, it was Rose's discovery of more sides to Scorpius that made such a difference in their relationship. And though it seemed clear to everyone else that there was clearly something between Scorpius and Rose, the two in question were rather adamant that they were friends.

As Rose stared out of the common room window one day, she marvelled at how things had changed so quickly. Her sixth year had been a whirlwind of events; one after the other, and she often hardly had time to keep track of all that had been going on in the midst of exams and studying and her own obligations toward family and friends. She was confused. Though a few months ago, the biggest thing that had been worrying her was the Holly case, that was all over and done with, swept to a corner of Rose's mind. Yet it had to be brought up, for that as where Rose's worries started. The time she was spending reflecting on the past few months _had_ to start with Holly.

So, Holly. The girl who always seemed to want to beat Rose in every exam. Who did horrible things to people much weaker than her, and who was, in every meaning of the word, a bully. Rose at times wondered if she was even human, if she even had feelings. Her constant tendency to want to hurt those who she considered beneath her, and in such alarming ways was certainly cause for concern, though concern would generally be administered in the form of frightened looks. It was only on a certain cloudy night, when the plan to 'take Holly down' had been perfected and all that was left was to get some hair, that Scorpius and Rose became aware of the truths of Holly's behaviour.

* * *

><p>Rose remembered it well. They had been sitting in the common room, in the comfy seat by the fire, and Albus and May had gone on their usual excursion to the kitchens. It was no surprise to Rose or Scorpius that, after a few months of going to the kitchens and hanging around each other, Albus and May had quite clearly become smitten with each other and the only people left to realise it were Albus and May themselves. Rose had been poring over some Ancient Runes book that her mother had sent her to relieve her from the stress of NEWTs, as it was inevitable that, as it came up to November, she would start panicking. Scorpius on the other hand was next to Rose, absent mindedly sketching as he often liked to do as a way to kill time. Within a few minutes, however, the comfortable quiet of the room had soon turned into a playground for the little insults and jibes that Scorpius and Rose had become accustomed to throwing at each other.<p>

'So Posie, what are you reading?'

'Ancient Runes book.'

'How terribly exciting!'

'Well, it is actually!' Rose had said, not registering Scorpius's sarcasm. 'I mean the study of Runes in itself is rather fascinating!' she had begun eagerly, before seeing Scorpius's look of disbelief.

'What?'

'You find runes…fascinating? Actually fascinating?

'Well…yeah.' shrugged Rose.

'You don't even take Ancient Runes!'

'So?'

'So why would you waste time reading Ancient Runes when there's so much more to do in life?

'Like what, exactly?'

'Play Quidditch?'  
>Rose remembered rolling her eyes at that. Typical Scorpius.<p>

'I like Quidditch. Just not at this time of night.'

'Scared?' His eyes had flashed mischievously.

'Never.'

'Then come with me.'

'And you'll be… in a world of pure imagination…'

Rose suppressed a laugh at that She remembered Scorpius's eyebrows knitting in confusion, and then his face widening into a smile.

'That's the song… from that muggle film!'

Rose had been surprised. 'You're familiar with it?'

'Of course I am!'

'The great Scorpius Malfoy, slayer of a thousand snitches, beater of a billion bludgers, watching Muggle films about chocolate?'

Scorpius had grinned, a sort of half embarrassed, half 'oh well, my secret's out now' smile that made Rose herself smile too. Just thinking about it now made Rose smile at the memory of it.

'Well, this _is_ new. You do know I now have leverage over you?'

'I do beg your pardon?'

'Blackmail and the sort. If you ever get on my bad side.' She grinned impishly.

Scorpius whistled. 'Well _this _is new too. The great Rose Weasley, innocent as can be with her two little plaits and her nose buried in books, is a schemer. A charlatan of sorts!'

'Did you just call me a charlatan? You swine!'

'How do charlatan and swine even go together?'

'I don't know, imbecile!'

'Why on earth are we exchanging such old fashioned insults, peasant?'  
>'You're the one who's all old fashioned- charlatan?'<br>'Swine?'  
>There had been a pause, and then the two erupted in laughter, Scorpius laughing so hard that he fell off the side of his seat, narrowly missing the fireplace. Rose had stood up in a swift motion, then, rushing to his side.<p>

'Are you okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine, I only fell off the sofa. Why do you look so concerned? I haven't hurt myself!

'Yes, but your close proximity to the fire is worrying.'

'Do you normally do that?

'Do what?'

'Talk all…properly.'

'Properly?'

'Yeah, like completely Britishly.'

'I don't think Britishly is a word.'

'Still, you have this habit of talking all properly either when you're worried or something's bothering you.'

'And how would you know that exactly, may I ask?'

'And...you've done it again.' Scorpius threw his hands up in mock despair.

'How have I done it again?'

'May I ask?' he mimicked.

'What's wrong with that?!' Rose spluttered.

'It plays up to the stereotype of being ever so British. All tea and crumpets and sandwiches on the lawn.'

'But it's how I speak. It's English! And anyway, I thought you're incredibly posh so that stereotype is completely, well…true for you.'

'Well my parents are incredibly posh. Me, not so much. I think because when I was younger, I liked being with the more normal kids as opposed to the children with nannies that father always liked me to be with. I mean, Britain's so diverse; you have so many accent and ways of speaking, types of people, types of food, just everything. Sometimes it amazes me, how people can be so different, yet so similar. And Muggles! Oh, muggles! I thought Celestina Warbeck was something until I discovered Taylor Swift!'

'Well this _is_ a new side. But I do agree with you there. And it's not just Britain. The rest of the world too, there's so many different cultures and ways of life that I'd love to see. Both wizarding and non wizarding. And-' Rose suddenly stopped.

'And what?' said Scorpius, prompting her to carry on.

'Did you just say Taylor Swift?' she asked.

'Yes…'

'You like Taylor Swift?!'

'Erm, kind of?'

'The music or the looks?'

'The looks. And the music, too.'

'Well, we are learning things today. It's quite interesting, actually.'

'What is?

'Seeing this different side to you. But it's a good different. An interesting different.'

'Well, if I'm completely honest, I don't think I've really ever had a conversation like this where I've gone from talking about ancient runes to Taylor Swift. You're quite interesting too. I- I mean, this side to you.' He corrected hastily. 'I'd always had you down as a quiet, bookwormy type person.

'You still think that.'

'Yeah, but I'm beginning to see a different side to you too. One that makes me laugh so hard, I fall of my chair.' He grinned.

'Oh, gosh, speaking of which, are you okay?' asked Rose, her natural tendency to worry resurfacing.

'I'm fine. A little fall never did anyone any harm.'

'Except Humpty Dumpty.'

And it had been at that point that Al and May had walked in after their (rather long) trip to the kitchens. Rose leaned back in her chair, smiling at the memory of Al and May walking in with their arms filled with food, ready for the nights scheming to begin.

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><p>Rose heaved a sigh and decided to go down to the kitchens for a while. Scorpius was in the library, having a late night study session with Al, and May had gone to bed early. As Rose sneaked her way down the corridors, her mind fell once more into a state of remembrance as she remembered what had happened after her and Scorpius's enlightening conversation. What had happened with Holly.<p>

Settling herself down into a chair in the kitchens, the soft clattering of the dishes that the house elves were using to prepare food for her faded away, and Rose was surprised at how well she remembered the events of that night.

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><p>The four of them had been grouped round the fire, snacking away on pumpkin pasties and a few other treats from the kitchens. The plan had been perfected, and it was to be carried out the next day. The Polyjuice Potion had been painstakingly prepared, and Rose was all set to take Holly down the next day. The genius act of impersonating Holly and embarrassing her in front of the whole school had been applauded by Albus and May, and Scorpius had been pleasantly shocked indeed at Rose's cunningness, saying that her deviousness was something even his father would be proud of. That of course had cued looks between Albus and May, and a sneaky comment of 'no doubt about Rose being accepted by Scorpius's family, then'. Both Rose and Scorpius had quite clearly heard it (Al had a huge voice anyway) but decided to ignore it, both choosing instead to make sneaky comments about Albus and May's potential relationship. The conversation had soon turned, however, to Holly's evilness and general unpleasantness.<p>

'I still don't get why she does such mean things.' started Rose.

'Like trying to kill Will just because they were partners in potions?' snorted May.

'Not to mention tripping me up in third year!' said Al.

'And asking Flitwick whether he needed some Skele-gro.' said Scorpius.

'And taunting poor Hagrid about his mother.'

'Not to mention talking about Dumbledore having a great fall.' said May.

'She did not!' exclaimed Rose.

'She did!'

'Al?' Rose looked to him for confirmation.

'She actually did.'

'When was this?' Rose asked, in disbelief.  
>'First year.' answered Albus.<p>

'How did it go again? Oh yeah-Dumby Dumbledore sat on a wall, Dumby Dumbledore had a great fall… That's how it went.' said May.

'Dumby?'

'I guess she couldn't come up with a better name.' shrugged Albus.

'You know, though guys, all that stuff is pretty pathetic.' said Scorpius.

'It really is.' agreed Rose.

'Which is why pranking her like this is all good. I mean, why she has to go around saying things like that is just stupid.'

'She has done some serious stuff though.' piped up May.

'Worse than practically asthma attacking Will?'

'Not just that. Back in second and third year, remember how nice she used to be?' said May.

The three others nodded in agreement.

'Well, she used to be really nice and friendly, always helped people with their homework and all that sort of stuff.'

'Yeah I remember that pretty clearly. Which is why I don't get what happened to her now. I mean, she just changed in the space of, what, three days? A week?' asked Rose.  
>'I dunno. But the thing is, she used to help people and get them to trust her and then they'd tell her stuff. Like, secrets and stuff they'd want kept to themselves. She wormed her way into people's lives and made them think they were special. Made them feel like something. And then she'd play them off against one another. Made friendships break. Relationships. Even family ties. She made the Silvertree twins turn against each other with just two words. And she did more.' May lowered her tone. 'Ever hear of flagratattooing?'<p>

'Isn't that…' Albus's eyes had been wide with horror. Rose had just gone numb. And Scorpius in all of this just sat and shook his head, feeling more and more repulsed by the minute.

'I don't wanna hear any more, May. Just, stop. Please.'

* * *

><p>Just thinking about that made Rose wince. She had seen the words etched into her mother's skin, a reminder of the war and all that had gone on. May had quite thankfully, realised what she had been going on abut and had gone quiet. Everyone knew from the history books the horrors of the war, knew how much evil there had to be in someone for them to even be able to think of flagratattooing, let alone carrying it out. Albus's eyes had been wide with revulsion. He too, knew about his father having to write in his own blood- 'I must not tell lies' could still be seen now, so many years on, on the back of Harry's hand. And Scorpius, perhaps, had been affected the most. For while Albus and Rose knew that their parents were never the ones at fault, the worry of his father being somehow responsible for what had happened to Albus and Rose's parents plagued him everyday, and it was instances like this, where details of the war were brought up, that Scorpius hated, for he knew that the prejudices he had worked so hard to get rid of would just, with one word, be brought back, and all his hard work would be ruined. Rose remembered looking into Scorpius's eyes and seeing the worry, something she still regularly saw now. Rose shook her head to get rid of the image, and progressed further into her memories, remembering what happened after the conversation about Holly.<p>

* * *

><p>'Okay. Erm, we establish that she's done bad things. From little pranks to serious things. And that's why she needs to be taught a lesson of sorts.'<br>Scorpius had hurriedly tried to move on the conversation, and Rose had been thankful that Al and May had caught on quickly too.

'So, we're gonna Polyjuice it, get her in bucket loads of trouble and hopefully get her a good ten years of detention, right?' Scorpius asked, making sure to keep his tone joking in an effort to lighten the atmosphere.

'Yes. But we don't want to stoop to her level, and get her expelled or anything 'cause then that would be on our heads. And we're not evil. We just wanna let her know how it feels to be embarrassed in front of everyone. The stuff that she's done, the serious stuff. I don't think any of us want to get into that. If what you sad is true, May, and she has done that… I'd rather not think about it. Just a simple prank, make her a bit humiliated and we can carry on with our lives. To be honest, I'm not sure if we should carry this out.' said Rose uncertainly.

'Oh Rose, you're not gonna start this again?' asked Scorpius.

'What do you mean?'

Al stepped in to explain. 'First, you weren't sure about it. Then we decided on Polyjuice. Then when we were making it you weren't sure again. Then you were like, 'no let's do this'. And now you're backing out yet again?'

'It's just…if she's capable of seriously bad stuff, maybe its better not to cross her.' explained Rose.

'Rose, stop getting so freaked out. May, your information probably doesn't even come from reliable sources.' said Albus calmly. 'Look, all we're doing is impersonating the girl, paying a few pranks and letting her deal with the teachers being angry at her. If anything, she seems like this perfect goody two shoes anyway, who everyone loves and thinks is just perfect. And she's not perfect, she's far from it. All we're doing is enlightening people and letting them know the truth. I mean, your essay? Will? Have you forgotten all that?'

'Hmm. You have a point, there. Okay then. We're going through with this!'

How very wrong they were. Looking over it in hindsight, Rose realised how oblivious they had been to what had really been going on with Holly. In fact, a lot of people had been oblivious to quite a few things. In fact, the whole world was oblivious. Albus and May had no clue that the other liked them, people were often unaware of how much people disliked hem, and, Rose supposed, as she sat listening to the clanking of the house elves pots and pans, that she too was rather oblivious.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter :) Next chapter should be up sometime next week, hopefully!**


	15. Kitchen Dwelling

**A/N: Don't own any Taylor Swift lyrics, or anything in the vast Harry Potter universe. Apologies for the extremely late update!**

* * *

><p>Rose was just getting up to leave when she heard the clank of the kitchen door as it shut. Silently praying it wasn't a teacher coming down for a nightcap, she turned her head, expecting to see professor McGonagall or one of the older lot, ready to berate her for being out of bed at, what was the time, she wondered to herself. She glanced at the clock in the corner of the kitchen. Two thirty am. She had spent the last three hours thinking over everything that had happened. Stuff with Scorpius, with Albus and May, with Holly. With her exams and NEWTs and her parents. Goodness, she had gotten through a lot of thinking. And she hadn't even finished going through the Holly situation and what had happened after they agreed, for the last time, to carry out the plan.<p>

But now was no time to think of that. Rose turned her head to face the kitchen door , getting more nervous as her eyes travelled from the feet of the newcomers to their faces and it was only when she saw the familiar green eyes of Albus, and behind him Scorpius, that she heaved a huge sigh of relief.

'Rose? What are you doing down here at this time of night? Shouldn't you be asleep? May went to sleep ages ago.' said Albus, settling himself down in the seat next to Rose.

'You would know.' muttered Scorpius, sitting down on Rose's other side.  
>Rose suppressed a giggle. It was so clear that here was something between Albus and May; she wished they would just acknowledge it already.<p>

'I couldn't sleep. Too busy thinking about everything that's happened over the past few months.' she admitted.

'Odd. I thought you'd be worrying about exams. I mean, I know they're still a month or two away, but the daughter of Hermione Granger, not worrying about exams? Oh, lamentable day!' cried Scorpius in mock despair.

'Shut up, Shakespeare. I was actually thinking of all the stuff that happened with Holly and all.'

'Oh. Well, that's a different matter.'

'Scorp and I were just thinking bout it the other day as well. I can't believe what actually happened.'

'Who would have thought it, eh? Holly Bertand, human after all.'

'I feel kind of sorry for her, if I'm honest.' confessed Rose. 'I mean, people always did say bullies only bully other people because they were bullied. Or something along the lines of that.'

'Yeah, I guess sometimes, people have issues and people just don't know about them because they hide it so well.' agreed Scorpius.

'It's good that we found out what was going on with her before we did all the Polyjuice stuff. And it's good we found out that all the stuff May was going on about was, well, not true.'

'Yeah, fair point. Well at least we now that the reason she always bullied other people was because she got bullied herself. She just needed someone to tell that to.'

'And all four of us of all people; I think it just got too much. That night in the common room, she really let rip, didn't she? Screaming and crying, and…I was a bit scared, to be honest.' said Albus.

'I think we all were. It definitely wasn't what any of us were expecting at all.'

'Funny to think though. All that anticipation of pranks and her finally getting what was coming to her, and in the end, finding out she only did all that stuff cause she needed some help.'

'Well, if anything, it's good that Hogwarts has Madame Pomfrey. Who knew that she was a good councillor and all?'

'Exactly! I guess the main thing is, everything worked out.'

The kitchens were quiet for a while, each of the three teenagers lost in their own thoughts. Scorpius broke the silence, as he usually tended to do.

'Well, now the big problem is NEWTs, and end of year exams.'

'Don't mention that in front of Rose, she'll freak out.' grinned Albus. Rose swatted at Albus's arm in mock annoyance.

'Anyway, what's going on with you, Al?' asked Scorpius.

'I don't know, what's going on with me?'  
>'You and <em>May.<em>'  
>'Oh, yeah, Al, when are you gonna make your move?' asked Rose, joining in.<br>'What move?' asked Albus, feigning confusion.

'Oh come on, it so blindingly obvious that you like her! Get on with it and ask the girl out!' said Rose, exasperated.

'And theoretically if I were to ask her out, what are the chances of her saying yes?'  
>'Pretty bloody high, mate! She fancies you back! Ask Rose!'<p>

'It's true, Albus. Just ask her out!'

'Hmm. Maybe.'

Scorpius let out a snort of laughter.

'What's so funny?' asked Al.

'He said MAY-be!'

Rose couldn't hep but laugh.

'It's not funny, Rose, its lame!'

'No, it's immature, but it's still funny!'

'Ugh. I'm off to bed. You two carry on doing whatever it is you do late at night.

See you in the morning. Don't stay up too late, children.' instructed Al, getting up from his seat. He hugged Rose, gave Scorpius a playful slap on the back and made his way to the door.

'Don't stay up too late, children. Honestly, he's so much like a parent sometimes!' said Rose, rolling her eyes.  
>'You know, its funny, both him and May seem to think we have really intense conversations when actually half the time it's just the two of us blazing each other.' said Scorpius.<p>

'Yeah, I know, it's like I call you stupid, you call me dumb. The rest of the world suddenly thinks there's something going on between us!' laughed Rose.

'Is it just me that thinks a guy and a girl can actually just be friends? They can be close, but then can still be friends. As in, best friends. Like us. We're best friends. We're not going out with each other or anything, we just get along well and enjoy each others company.'

'Speak for yourself.'

'Hey!'

'I'm just kidding.' Her tone softened. 'I actually quite like your company too. You can actually keep a conversation going unlike the rest of the entire male population at Hogwarts. Carry on, though.'

'But yeah. We're friends, good friends. We enjoy each others company and we can talk to each other and trust each other, but it doesn't mean we want to get together and be in a relationship and all that sort of stuff.'

There was a pause while Rose contemplated what Scorpius had said. She agreed with the enjoying each others company and trusting each other, but the idea of getting together, or rather, being in a relationship, wasn't at all that horrid. Oh dear. What did _that_ mean? After a few minutes, Rose replied.  
>'Yeah, I get what you mean. I guess as long as you don't care about outside opinions, its allright. It's once people start talking that things tend to get complicated.'<p>

'Ah, well. Forget people. And outside opinions. There's always someone who disapproves. People throw rocks at things that shine and all that.'

'Quoting Taylor Swift, now?' asked Rose with a small smile.

'Always good to quote Taylor Swift every once in a while.'

'You're right there. Anyways, time to head to bed, I think.'

'Me too.'

The two of them walked out of the kitchens, taking care to avoid the vigilant eyes of Mrs Norris. They reached the portrait hole, and after waking up an extremely cranky Fat Lady, who mumbled and grumbled as she swung forward to let them in, they stopped at the foot of the stairs.

'Night, Rose. Take care. Don't let the NEWT bugs bite.' grinned Scorpius.

'You make no sense Scorp, but you take care too. Good night.' They departed with small smiles and made their way up to their respective dormitories.

And as Rose fell into her bed, she realised that although things with Holly were resolved, and her NEWT worries could, with some effort, be pushed away, one problem she still had to figure out was what she felt towards Scorpius Malfoy.

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><p><strong>AN: And now starts all the fluffy, angsty stuff that comes from being in love. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter :)**


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